Homesick
by StoryBookLover2
Summary: "Children are knives, my mother once said. They don't mean to, but they cut. And yet we cling to them, don't we, we clasp them until the blood flows." ― Joanne Harris, The Girl with No Shadow What if Kaneki's mother was still alive and waiting for her son to return?
1. Gone and found

A/N WOW my first attempt at a fanfiction. I'm way to nervous... hehe anyways hope y'all enjoy this lill thing of mine :)

This story takes place right before the arc in Kanou's lab, so no Kakuja (yet hehe) but we have our *cough*sexy *cough* white haired Kaneki. My poor bby!

**Disclaimer**: I don't own any characters or the original story and makes to profit of this.

**Homesick**

_StoryBookLover2_

A woman sat in a faintly lit room looking morosely out through the clear glass window. The dark night outside was illuminated by the cold white light of the streetlights and the golden glow from the many apartments of those still awake. She lived in one of the safer areas in the 20th ward and there was rarely any ghoul activity in the nights, leaving the streets deserted. That's why it came as a surprise when a lone figure appeared at the end of the block. The woman startled and watched the silhouette closely. Even if ghouls were scarce in these parts it was still rare for the inhabitants to leave their safe homes when the dark had fallen. The figure looked up under his hood in the beam of a streetlight and she felt her heart skip a beat as she saw his face, the face of her missing son.

Kaneki Ken. He had been missing for four weeks now and already before that he had been reclusive and avoided their contacts after a difficult accident that had required an organ transplant. She had tried to stay optimistic but she couldn't help thinking that she'd never see him again.

The silhouette outside stopped outside her window and lowered his hood. His white hair a stark contrast to his black clothes. The woman closed her eyes in disappointment. This boy, when she saw him closer looked to old to be her son and his natural white hair was proof that she once again projected her wish to see her son on perfect strangers. She turned her back to the window and gave in to her tears as she went to bed.

* * *

Outside her window the boy looked longingly up to her apartment. The night was perfectly still around him as he stood there wishing that he could go up to his mother, to see her again and tell her that he's alright. Kaneki gave off a short burst of air and turned slowly to walk back the same way he came from. When he turned into a black alleyway his white hair was the only brightness in the pitch black coldness.

* * *

A few days later Kaneki's mother walked in the city center. She was once again putting up missing posters all across the 20th ward. So far it yielded no result but she kept up hope that some day they would find him alive and well.

She entered the familiar cafe, her son had worked here for about a month before he disappeared and she still went here every day in the hope that he would find his way back there. The woman sat down in the furthest corner of the little shop at the usual table. The purple-haired waitress, Touka, approached the table with the usual somber look she used when she came there, Touka had been a close friend of her son.

"He is still missing then i gather" the girl said resignedly and took the woman's blank look as an affirmative and lowered hes eyes. "The usual then Kohana?" She continued after a short silence adopting a professional tone.

She was interrupted when the door opened and a young man walked in. He was clad in black and had a hood covering most of his face. The only visible feature was his white hair and black painted nails, the same person she had seen outside her apartment the other night.

The man started at the sight of them and froze on the spot, Touka took a sharp intake of breath and put her hands to her mouth. Kohana looked confused at the newcomer, who could cause such a reaction in the usually stoic girl. She knew he looked like her Ken but it wasn't him and it was breaking her heart. She made to look away but then she did a double-take and let out a gasp almost a whimper. With tearful eyes she whispered the name she had been longing to say.

"Ken"?

It was despite the faded hair and, dulled eyes and hard expression without a doubt her son. She gathered herself and stumbled up from the chair and crossed the small shop. She stopped just in front of him and hesitantly reached out her arm. Shaking she lifted it to his face and touched his chin softly. He closed his eyes and let out a soft breath but gave no other reaction. Kohana broke out in tears and threw her arms around her child and felt him take shaking breaths as he hugged her back.

"Mom" he sighed quietly with large amount of relief.

They sat down at a table by the windows hands clasped across the table since Karla refused to let go, she needed the proof that he was really there."will you come home? Just tonight"

He hesitated for a second before nodding an affirmative and his lips formed a small smile, the first sincere one since his accident. She smiled in return but a small amount of distress crept into her mind, despite the smile he still had a lingering expression of pain. What happened to make him like this? He was never this closed off all the time, and behind his eyes were a sadness that he tried to hide behind an expressionless facade. She put her concerns away for the time being, it was enough just to have him here at last.

The doorbell jingled behind them as they left Anteiku behind them and headed home.

* * *

Kaneki almost regretted his decision to come home with his mother, he knew that Aogiri was after him and he also knew that he himself was far from safe in his current state of hunger. He couldn't imagine himself capable of killing his own mother, his self control had become better then that right? He didn't dare to trust his theory and regretted not having eaten recently. To sneak away later to find someone to eat felt like betrayal to his mother and he refused to think that he might have to. The last week had been busy, training; both his team and himself at the same time as he struggled to find out more about Kanou had left little time for rest and he was exhausted both in mind an body. That was probably why he didn't have the strength to turn her away and gave in to his heart. Kaneki looked at his mother, she looked so happy to have him back, she had no idea it was only temporary. It could only ever be temporary. If she ever found out that he was a ghoul she would want nothing to do with him. She would miss the son she had lost in that accident where the old him had been killed. But he was not that person anymore.

They took the last turn onto the street to his home. His old home he reminded himself, yet he couldn't shake the familiar longing he felt, the strong homesickness.

A sudden sound of footsteps made him turn his head. Immediately he felt the dread turn his insides to ice. Before him were two familiar faces. His mind was instantly back in that small chair. He saw the big room with checkered floor and felt the white hot pain of his fingers and toes being brutally cut from his body. He could hear the centipede in his ear and saw the two ghouls come towards him with a human body forcing him to eat it so his limbs would grow back. Then the process would start all over and over and over...

He tore his mind back to reality, this was not the time to be spacing out. He felt his mother turn around beside him, she went rigid at the sight of the two men with black and red eyes.

"Mother, you should run home, I'll be right behind you" Kaneki said in a level voice hoping she would listen. She didn't. He saw the first man's kagune rip out of his middle back - a koukaku type. He knew that he could not evade it out of the fear that it would hit his mother instead. With a heavy heart he adapted a protective stance in front of his mom ready to do what it takes to save her.

* * *

Kohana couldn't run away leaving her only child with these monsters, she didn't know what to do when he stepped in front of her. The taller of the men had a large red Kagune sprouting from his back, forming a sharp spear like shape beside him. Without a warning he propelled it forward and she knew it would cut straight through her son. Before she could even scream Kaneki had pushed her to her gently to the side so she stumbled and fell to the hard concrete a short distance away. She saw, as in slow motion how her son smoothly sidestepped the sharp kagune. At this time the other ghoul had produced a purple kagune in the shape of a tail and she knew that she was not walking away from here. But the one thing on her mind was her child, still standing straight between her and the attackers. "Ken run! Leave me here! Please you have to live." She cried out in panic when he narrowly avoided the tail like kagune. Their attackers laughed out loud at that and one of them made a move to go around Kaneki to her. "Don't you dare" Kaneki said, his voice suddenly hard, he took a step forward threateningly. The ghouls faltered in their laugh for a second before speaking for the first time. "Do you really think you can threaten us? After all we are two of Aogiri's best"

"So was Yamori" Kaneki retorted simply. Karla looked confused between the three of them, this was not what she was expecting, had they met before? Yamori as in 13th ward's Jason? She wasn't sure she wanted to know.

The two ghouls had had enough of talking and threw themselves at Kaneki. She screamed as her son was pierced through his arm with the spear like kagune. The blood dropped slowly from Kaneki's pale fingers. He turned to look at her for a second, his eyes were sad as if he had given up on life and was begging for her forgiveness. Karla could no nothing but watch as he turned his back to her and faced the monsters whom would be his killers. What happened next was to fast for her to follow. Four red kagune limbs appeared out of nowhere and suddenly the ghouls were thrown to the ground and Kaneki stood alone in the middle. Her mind couldn't take in the sight or him walking forward, cracking his fingers and looking at the ghouls climbing of the ground with one black and red eye.

* * *

A/N okey sooo *hides in corner* R&amp;R? ^^*


	2. Run to you

AN/ Hello everyone, this is a bit later than I thought but oh well. here it is anyways. Thank you for all the reviews and likes 3

Kaneki felt the all too familiar rush of adrenaline pump through his body in anticipation of the upcoming fight. His heart surged and he cracked his knuckles with a loud pop. His instincts wanted him to tare the two ghouls in front of him to good meal sized pieces and feast until he was finally full.

His logical side, his human feelings screamed at him to be gentle, he would do anything for his mother not to see this. But she was, so he would fight his violent tendencies so as not to scare her away from him any more than necessary. He tried not to hold on to the slim hope that she would accept him but that treacherous feeling crept up on him hardening his resolve to end this as bloodlessly as possible.

The shorter ghoul, the Koukaku-type ran towards him with a hateful expression, yelling profanities atKaneki, his kagune ready to strike. Kaneki remembered now, the ghoul was Naki, one of the less mentally stable followers of the Aogiri. He had been quite obsessed with Jason if Kaneki remembered correctly. So that's why they were here, for revenge.

When Naki's deadly kagune was thrown forward Kaneki moved swiftly to his left and dashed then moved in closer, he struck with a strand of his kagune in the hope of finishing this quickly. The ghoul was too quick and threw himself to the hard ground before Kaneki's bright red kagune could pierce his heart. Instead it graced his back and tore a long gapping tare in the dark flesh. Blood spread on the ground around them quickly and Kaneki cursed inwardly throwing a quick look towards his mother. She looked dazed and confused, the hope for acceptation dropped and Kaneki felt his heart grow heavy.

The other ghoul had recovered from his bad fall and was taking a slower approach by trying to circle him. Kaneki poised himself between the bikaku ghoul and his mother. Naki was also on his legs again despite a limp and a pained expression and the two of them came at him simultaneously from different directions. Kaneki noticed belatedly how close to his mother he had moved and realised he had to finish this off quickly so she wouldn't get hurt.

The bikaku ghoul was the first to get to Kaneki and threw his kagune forward aiming for Kaneki's midsection. The white-haired boy blocked it with his one of his own kagune limbs which disintegrated from the hit. He didn't bother regenerating it but just grabbed Naki by the arm when he went in for a hit while he thought Kaneki was distracted. With a wrench the ghoul was thrown into his companion and went crashing straight into the sharp bikaku kagune aimed to spear Kaneki. The crazy ghoul gave a grunt of pain before crashing to the ground, pierced through his heart.

The remaining ghoul looked shocked down on his friend as he slid of the kagune with a squelching sound, while he was immobile Kaneki jumped forward and quickly severed the ghouls head from his body.

He then closed his eyes to the bloody mess on the ground and turned around to face his shaken up mother.

Kohana did not think of herself as a girl who had lived a sheltered life, she had lost her mother in an accident in early years and then worked shifts at the local hospital when she was younger, blood and wounds were common to her.

The harsh reality now stared her in the face when she witnessed a man getting impaled by a large sharp kagune. She could see the guts spilling out on the road with crystall clearness, like grotesque grey worms they lay, covered in thick red blood. She felt nauseated by the sight and pushed herself away from where she sat on her knees. Kohana scraped her hands on the rough concreate when she frantically tried to drag herself along the ground, trying to shield herself from the sight.

When the headless body fell to the ground a second later and the head rolled in her direction she met the blank eyes of the dead ghoul and could no longer keep down the urge to throw up.

Kohana was still hunched over on the ground and dry heaving when she felt a hesitant hand on her shoulder. She turned her head sluggishly and saw the slim hand with blackened nails.

"Are you alright?" Kaneki asked softly while he put his hands firmly under her arms and gently helped her up on her feet.

She nodded slowly and let her son help her across the street to her house, leaving the horrific bodies behind them.

The light in the stairway was sparse and the dark tapestry gave it a gloom appearance and Karla felt herself start to shiver. She had some trouble finding the keys to her apparent and dug around in her small handbag. When she had gotten the key she could barely unlock because her hands were shaking. She knew deep down that she was in shock, she should snap out of it, take care of her child. It only made her hand shake harder. She felt Ken's sure hands cover hers and managed to turn the lock.

She sat down at the small table in the kitchen. It was standing in the middle of the room facing the only window in the house. The chair scraped against the wooden floor when Kaneki pulled out a chair beside her.

"Do you want me to go?" Ken asked quietly. Kohana looked up, she finally snapped out of her state of shock.

"No! Of course not! Why would I want that?" She was genuinely confused about his inquiry, why would she want him to leave? She realised with a start what he meant and threw her arms around him for the second time that day. He might be a ghoul but she was his mother. She could feel him hugging her back desperately, clinging to her as if his life depended on it. Mabey it did, she mused. His life had changed drastically the last moths. He had changed. Perhaps he needed this familiar piece of home.

Kohana didn't ask any questions until her son had calmed down and she had thought things through properly. She had come to three important conclusions. One: somehow her son had changed, had turned into a ghoul, something that haunted nightmares in all of Tokyo. She didn't know how or why but she intended to find out. Two: Something horrible had happened to him, she was not sure if the changes to his attitude and looks were caused by his transformation into a ghoul or if he had been through something even more horrifying. She was scared to find out but could not let her son go through this alone.

The last one was one she didn't dare form into thoughts but which lay there and gnawed at her mind and gave her a sick feeling. If he had turned into a ghoul he still had to eat. Only he could no longer eat normal food. He had to have eaten to survive, had to have eaten a person. She put this to the back of her mind resolutely, it did not matter she told herself. From now on she would be there by his side to take care of him.

Kaneki pulled away from his mother and gave her a week smile. "I am sorry for making you worry" he said and looked down guiltily "I really thought it was for the best to stay away from you. I still think it was the right decision. "

Kohana looked sadly at her son and wished for thongs to be different. No ghouls, no horror and no sorrow. For her son to have grown up to be the good happy person she had imagined he would be. But reality had hit hard and she had to let go of the dreams and focus on doing the best of what they had now.

"You are here now." Kohana said gently "will you tell me what happened?" Kaneki looked away and seemed to argue with himself before he seemingly gave in with a sigh and turned back to her. He would stay with her and in that moment she felt that everything would be fine.

AN/ a bit later than last chapter but a bit more eventfull ;) see you in the next chapter.


	3. Kunde jag vrida tiden tillbaka

Kohana's illusion shattered the moment his story began.

"It started in the coffeeshop, it was four months ago now I think, feels like a lifetime..." Kaneki trailed of for a second "I got a date, happier that I'd been in a long time, she was smart and pretty and our first date was to the bookshop. I followed her home that evening, she was worried because her neighbourhood was very densely populated by ghouls." he paused for breath and dragged his hand through his hair. Kohana could see where the story was going and hoped she was wrong, "Were you attacked?" she asked with a weak voice filled with concern.

Kaneki smiled bitterly "You could say that. We came to an alley and she stopped, we were going to kiss, well I thought so at least. I felt this sharp pain in my shoulder suddenly and didn't really understand why. Well apparently the pretty girl was one of the more famous ghouls around and felt like having me for a snack." he finished with a forced cheer and a smile that did not reach his dark eyes. Kohana felt her insides grow cold, and bit her lip to keep in her seat. She tried to calm herself and remember that he was still alive, he was here. It didn't help. "H-how did you survive?" she forced out.

"Someone had a grudge on her, Rize-sama, and we both got trapped under those steel-beams and the commotion brought someone there so we were rescued and as you know, brought to the hospital." Kaneki gave a deep sigh and continued still in a voice that did not convey his real emotions, to distance himself from the horror of it "Her organs were implanted in me. The doctor was some crazy scientist, Kanou, and he wanted to create artificial ghouls. He succeeded, obviously. Not that he told me, sent me on my way home to wonder why everything I ate tasted horrible and was impossible to keep down. I don't think I quite accepted the reason until I followed an amazing smell and ended up in a back-alley."

Kohana knew what would come and tried not to feel repulsed, she could see that her son was as disgusted as her and it made her forget her own feelings. She realised how horrible it must have been for him to realise that he had to eat his fellow humans to survive, how he must have feared to become one of the monsters they heard about on the news every day. Kohana put her arms around herself, as if to keep the sorrow at bay.

"That was the first time I saw a dead body" Kaneki said quietly, with a melancolic expression staring out into space, as if longing for his lost innocence. "That night I met Touka-chan and she brought me to Anteiku and told me that I could live, as the manager put it: "a relatively guilt free life as a ghoul". So they gave me a job and set me up with food. This was back when I still talked to you guys some times." He looked guilty again with his shoulders slumped. Kohana remembered those days, she was sad that her son was distancing himself from her but told herself that he just needed time away to settle down on his own with friends and work.

She never imagined this. She sat quietly when he told her about the incident that had him shutting off all his contact with his human friends. When she heard it she could understand his motives, he had almost killed his best friend, and would have if not for Touka. While she could understand where he came from she still wished he would have stayed with her. From then on the story became more like a story, a horrible thriller of life. Being caught by the gourmet and almost sold to a bunch of hungry ghouls and fighting CCG agents, doves as he called them. When he came to a break in his story she felt empty inside and could do nothing but cover her face in her hands and look down on the table without seeing it clearly.

Kaneki got up from the chair to stretch, "Should I put on some coffee?" he asked, already roaming through her kitchen supplies for some coffee beans and a brewer. Kohana watched as he made the coffee with sure movements. She could remember when he was younger, he never liked coffee much but would try to help her make it. He was very bad at it, saying the least, it would always be almost to strong to drink or so watered out that it didn't taste anything at all. When he put a cup in front of her she approached it hesitantly, years of habit overtaking her logical reasoning that he actually had worked in a coffeeshop.

The coffee was perfect. For some reason it made her realise how different everything was more so than everything yet and she felt tears sting in her eyes. She could not hold back the urge to cry and let out a choked sob. She tried to act natural as if her entire face was not wet with tears and managed to tell Kaneki in a reasonably steady voice to continue his story. He watched her with concern for a moment but she just shook her head and waved him on.

"The biggest change was just some weeks ago when we suddenly had a visitor at Anteiku, he warned us about some group of ghouls called the Aogiri tree, apparently they were after Rize-sama, and according to him I smelled a lot of her. Well just a few days later it was proven correct and this big guy, Jason of the 13:th ward, showed up at our doorstep and decided to bring me with him. I was quite useless and despite fighting back there was nothing I could do."

Kohana realised what the ghouls earlier had said, they talked about Aogiri and of Jason. Wherever this was going it could not be good, and, as she understood now, had caused her son to be a target for ghouls. She let him continue with the story, dreading what was to come.

"Ten days later I got away" Kaneki hesitated and put on a false smile " and that brings us to where we are now" Kohana realised that he had skipped probably the most important part in his story, and that he did it to protect her once again. "You can tell me" she said with an encouraging smile "I won't think any different of you" Despite this he looked reluctant to speak and hid his eyes behind his hands.

"It was... bad" he began slowly "They put me in a large round room on a lone chair. It was not very bright in there... the chair was uncomfortable. First I was given an injection, RC-cell represent I think, it made it easier to... It made my body weaker and I was no longer impossible to harm with regular tools." He was choosing his wording with care as if he was afraid the words alone could hurt her, but she already knew what was coming, Antoinette's syndrome, that explained his whitened hair and his new, darker attitude. Kohana broke on the inside for her son.

Kaneki didn't tell her exactly what happened, he couldn't, and he did not need to.

"After nine days in there Jason realised I was not going to break, so he brought in a mother and her child and told me to choose who would live. I was unable to and he killed them both." he let out a small tear and it ran slowly down his face and caught the lights. "I snapped, I realised that "be hurt rather that to hurt others" had put me in that situation and that mentality was not going to cut it anymore. I broke free." Kohana could see how he felt ashamed by this, but also that he did not regret it, he only wished she did not have to know.

"You killed him didn't you" she saw the answer on his face and continued quickly "It's alright you know, I understand.." Kohana was not sure if she could really understand what he had gone through and neither could she truly understand what would drive a person to kill an other sentient being. He was her son, she reminded herself, she would be forgiving, understand to the best of her ability. She could not stop the small gnawing doubt again. Had he changed beyond redemption? What other horrible acts had he committed?

"After that it was confusing, the CCG was attacking the building and the people from Anteiku was there to free me. I found Touka and had to save her from her insane brother, when she asked me to return to Anteiku I decided not to and went to search out Kanou instead, Banjou and Tsukiyama came with me and here we are now." Wasn't Tsukiama that guy who was trying to eat Kaneki? Kohana asked this and Kaneki answered with a slight laugh that he was still trying. Kohana could not understand how her son could be so accepting that he let a man who had tried to kill him and his friends be a part of his "group". "How do you know he won't try to eat you again?" she asked incredulously, Kaneki's smile turned a bit sad and he commented "He wouldn't dare to". For some reason Kohana believed him.

Kohana had a feeling that some things had been left out of the story but she was alright with that, she had learnt that some things was better left unknown and she was not sure she wanted to hear him talk about what he must have done to survive. Without lingering on it further she once again put it to the furthest corner of her head, barely a day with her son back and already it was a habit. "How about this Touka girl though?" she asked lightly to brighten the spirit in the room, it worked perfectly she noticed with relief and a small amount of satisfaction, Kaneki blushed slightly and was suddenly very busy playing with the zipper on his hoodie. Kohana sensed that he had deeper feelings for her and even though he had tried to keep the story a bit impersonal to keep from breaking down it was clear that he cared much for the brash girl.

"I can see someone has a crush" she said jokingly in a singsong voice and suddenly everything was back to normal. Kaneki spluttered and tried to deny it but she could see than underneath he was just as happy as her that things had gained some semblance of normality.

After that they kept their conversations lighthearted and circulated around the friends that Kaneki had gained in his life recently. Kohana expressed her wishes to see the people he so fondly described and despite her discomfort in the thought of spending time with ghouls she was genuinely interested in meeting them. Kaneki on the other hand seemed a bit reluctant but agreed, after much prompting from his mother, to let her meet them in the safer environment of Anteiku.

When evening was turning to night and the light in the room had faded to a dull glow from the lightbulb above the small white-painted table. They fell into a comforting silence and revelled in the familiar calm that had once been an essential part of their lives. Cool air blew softly in through the window they had opened and brought with it the fresh scent of evening air. The calm was broken by a loud noise, Kaneki pulled out his phone and looked at the screen. "I have to take this" he said with furrowed brows and walked quicky out to the hallway while he answered the call.

AN/ A lot of story telling in this one. But not to worry, now the fun part is starting :)


	4. Calm before the storm

A/N Hello again! Hope you're still with me and as hyped for the new chapter as I am! Now things are being set in motion for the future that only I know about hehehe. Well here you go, enjoy :)

Calm before the storm

Kohana heard him stop abruptly and take a sharp breath. "Now?" he asked and she could not here the answer but the next second he was back inside the kitchen, phone disconnected. Kaneki looked at her torn between decisions she did not understand. He put his hand across his eyes for a moment before he looked up at her. "I have to go, I want you to come with me back, I don't trust that you're safe here when Aogiri has been so close." Kohana understood his concerns but tried to convince him that the would be quite safe here, he argued against and in the end Kohana understood that he would not give up and if she was perfectly honest with herself, she was not ready to leave him this soon.

It took close to 20 minutes to collect everything she wanted to bring with her since she realised the threat and that she might not be able to come back here. She made sure to bring with her everything of sentimental value on Kaneki's instructions incase the apartment was attacked while they were away, he convinced her.

A car was heard through the window when it pulled up with a groaning noise and then gave of a rude honking. Kaneki snorted slightly and rubbed his neck, "And that's our ride" He commented sheepishly. Kohana felt her nerves tingle with slight fear, spending the night, and perhaps the coming days among a group of ghouls was against all her better judgement even if one of them was her son.

The car was old. Rusty and gave of a very suspicious choking sounds and in the front seat sat a big guy who looked every bit her worst fears about ghouls. When the man opened his mouth however her mistake was glaringly obvious. He was unsure, that was her first realisation when he stumbled over words and blushed when he greeted her. She felt a bit more comforted by this but it was with slight trepidation she shuffled into the backseat of the car, leaving her bags for Kaneki to pack in the trunk.

The car smelled of to much air refreshener and the seats were rough and worn and scraped against her skin when she moved. "Whose car is it" she asked politely to break the thick silence.

"It's my car" The large man, Banjou, answered "I know it's a wreck but we couldn't afford more... " he scratched his neck and looked very apologising. Kaneki took pity on him and explained to kohana how difficult it was for a ghoul to get a job, something Kohana should have understood, just one more thing to add on the list of hardships for her son.

The old car stopped after a bumpy ride and Kohana gladly got out on the narrow street. The buildings were run-down and their grey facades were crumbling. Did they live here? It became apparent that they did not as Kaneki loaded over all her bags on Banjou and led her gently in through the abandoned buildings. The air seemed to grow heavy the further in they got as if the buildings were leaning over you from all sides and cutting of all the light leaving just a small beam of light illuminating the dusty air.

Kohana looked up to see a sliver of the blue sky above them and stumbled on a crack in the concrete road. A pale hand caught her upper arm and steadied her before she could lose her footing completely. She gave a grateful smile to her son who gave an awkward grin back, rubbing his neck embarrassedly, he was still uncomfortable with himself around her. She kept hoping he would truly relax soon and let his walls down.

The street opened up without a warning and from the dark alley they stepped out in a lush park where the sun could reach the ground despite the tall buildings. At the same time the buildings got a cleaner look, an oasis of calm in a sea of neglected buildings. Here they stopped and kohana followed them into one of the grey apartment buildings, the atmosphere changed once again when she entered the house. The inside was open and all the apartments had been changed into one single home.

The entrance went into a large hall with a high ceiling and a rounded staircase up to the next floor like a European renaissance house. Kohana was astounded by the sheer luxury of the home. As she gazed around at the exquisite paintings and delicate furniture a man came into the room. He was dressed in the most unfashionable outfit she had ever seen, a purple costume with flowers. Who in their right mind would wear something like that? Kohana could not help but stare rudely.

"some of us are more lucky than others" Kaneki threw out over her shoulder "big inheritance", Kohana found it a bit strange that he said it in front of said person and was ever more startled when the atrociously clad man laughed. "that's right. Welcome madame to my humble home" as he talked he moved in closely and added as an afterthought to Kaneki "I see where you get your unique scent from" The look he received from Kaneki was sharp enough to kill and he gave his mother a smile

"You can go get unpacked, Banjou will show you your room" he said with false cheer as he grabbed Thukiyama by the arm and forcefully led him into the next room, a fine dining room.

Kaneki turned and watched his mother move up the stairs with hesitation carrying her handbag clutched close to her. He worried a bit about leaving her alone here but relised that she could take care of herself, and if she needed help she could just call him. No need to worry. He was anyway. He shifted his attention to the purple haired ghoul who gave Kaneki a creepy smile. As a reward Kaneki dropped him hard on the floor, pleased when he recieved a pained sound. "That's my mother, you are not to touch her." he said evenly kickin Tsukiyama once for good measure."of course Kaneki-kun" he answered without hesitation, getting up smoothly as if nothing had happened. This bothered Kaneki but he elected to let it slide for this time and keep a close eye on Shuu from now on.

"So what did you say, have you found a way in to the restaurant?" Kaneki's voice was eager now, their search for answers about his origin had come to a halt when they could find no further information on doctor Kanou. Through some old rumour they found out that Madame A, a large supplier of humans to the ghoul restaurant could have had some dealings with the doctor. She was their target and the only location they knew she frequented was the ghoul restaurant. Hence they had formed a plan to capture Madam A to get information at the same time as overthrowing the restaurant. Two birds in one hit according to Kaneki.

"It will not be much of a problem, I have talked to the management and announced that I will provide them with a real delicacy in two days. We simply put you as the man course Kaneki-kun" Tsukiyama proclaimed vigorously, proposing his plan as if it would keep the world turning. Already used to Shuu's theatrical ways Kaneki quickly caught on to the perfect simplicity of the plan. All they had to do was get Banjous gang in as janitors, something always needed where so much blood was spilled constantly. Then they would just launch an assault on all the ghouls present and cut them down on their search for Madam A.

They would need to make sure to station Shuu close to Madan A incase things got complicated for the rest of them. Simple, yet almost failsafe considering their abilities, especially after Banjou and his three sidekicks; Jiro, Sante and Ichimi had received some practice. Of course Banjous size was probably enough to scare most off, if they did not know how soft he really was that is.

"Sounds like a plan, I can play bait. Now we just need to fill the others in without mom finding out.." he trailed of worriedly. Kaneki rubbed his neck, trying to calm himself. His mother may now know a short and very edited version of what happened since he left and had even been witness to some of the brutality he was capable of since Jason. This did not mean she had to know that he planned a massacre. Something he barley wanted to admit to himself, the things he did... it shocked him deep down, broke his heart but it was necessary he told himself. He would not touch on that part of him that truly loved it, revelled in the pain and blood. Just wanted to feast.

With a blink of his eyes he shook his thoughts, once more ignoring the roaring from something deep in his mind. Perhaps he could send his mother out with Hinami while they were out. He'd call later in the day to see. It would at least keep her of their course and she'd have a good time. Perhaps Touka could go with them, they seemed to have hit of pretty good at the restaurant. On the other hand Touka would probably know that something was up and come running after them. No better just be Hinami, she might suspect but she would not do anything about it.

Meanwhile Kohana was getting her things sorted out in the apartment that her host apparently called room. The upper floors still consisted of n assortment of renovated apartments, each with it's own style and colour-scheme. Kohana choose one of the more humble colour-schemes and found a room with creamy brown walls and shelver and furniture in a darker wood, probably pine. The dark purple curtains covered the entire wall hiding the big wardrobe, the bedding went in the same colour as the curtains giving room a very regal look.

The first thing she did was to throw herself at the bed as an overeager teenager. It was very soft just as she predicted just perfect. Perhaps she could move in here permanently, it was so large and her son wouldn't complain. Reality caught up with her and threw her dreams down to the ground shattering them into millions of pieces. She was here because her son was persecuted by a ghoul organisation, the inhabitants of this house was all murderers, how could she feel safe? Her son. Her Ken, how could this happen. She could not hold her feelings she broke down on that bed until she finally fell asleep of pure exhaustion from the traumatising day.

A/N I appologise for the short chapter after so long time. Finals are hell honestly! and they're just starting so next chapter might take a while to but I will try to find some time writing. Bye for now


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